Full details of Keenan Allen trade prove Chargers robbed Bears blind

A dream reunion that was dead in the water has new life. Just when LA Chargers fans finally gave up on the prospect of Keenan Allen returning to LA, Allen met with his former team to breathe new life into the reunion dream.

A large contingent of Chargers fans called for an Allen reunion throughout the offseason. These calls only grew when Mike Williams abruptly retired on the first day of training camp. However, weeks of radio silence with breakout rookies in camp prompted even the biggest Allen fans to give up on the reunion.

Now that reunion isn't just back on the table, it feels likely. While no deal has been agreed to yet, the two sides meeting in person at the Chargers' facility may just be foreshadowing the inevitable. And if Allen does indeed re-sign with the Bolts, it will put a bow on one of the biggest trade robberies in recent history.

Full details of Chargers' Keenan Allen trade prove the Bears were outright robbed

Trading Keenan Allen was an unpopular move at the time but it ended up setting the Chargers up for long-term success. Los Angeles was in a horrible salary cap position and had to get rid of two big contracts. Allen and Williams got the boot while Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa stayed.

In hindsight, the Chargers may have been better off keeping Allen and getting rid of Bosa, who they cut a year later. But that is neither here or there, especially when the Allen trade resulted in this return.

The Chargers traded Allen to the Bears for the No. 110 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Alone, that No. 110 pick would not have been a huge return. However, the way in which the Chargers strategically used that pick made it a home run.

General manager Joe Hortiz used that pick to trade up from the No. 37 pick to the No. 34 pick to draft Ladd McConkey. The New England Patriots traded back three spots and took a much less successful receiver, Ja'Lynn Polk.

Without that extra draft pick, the Chargers may not have been as aggressive in trading up for a receiver. Perhaps the Bolts would have stayed put at No. 37, hoping McConkey would fall. Maybe he would have, maybe he wouldn't have; trading up took out the risk.

That wasn't the only pick the Chargers got in the trade, though. New England traded the No. 137 pick back to the Chargers in the deal. Los Angeles used that selection for standout cornerback Tarheeb Still.

Theoretically, there is a world in which the Chargers still could have drafted McConkey and Still without the extra Bears pick. McConkey maybe would have fallen three more spots and the Chargers could have used their other pick in the fourth round on Still instead of Justin Eboigbe.

However, having that extra pick, which seemed minuscule at the time when the trade was announced, opened several doors for the Chargers in the 2024 NFL Draft. That return is made even better if all it cost was one year of Allen only for him to return 16 months later.